Perfect summer drinking whatever the temperature

May 31, 2018

This month, our wine editor Bruce Palling has chosen six top quality wines from Liberty Wines that are ideal for summer drinking - whether we're lucky with the weather or not!

"As we seem determined to enjoy our drinks outdoors during the summer months, our wine should be uncomplicated and refreshing enough to drink unaccompanied by food. Here, rosé wines come into their own. More than a quarter of world production comes from France and the very best of these are produced in Provence. The finest of them, like the Chateau Beaulieu offered here, are made by only exposing the freshly harvested juice to the grape skins for a few hours.

It’s not just rosé that makes an ideal summer drink – a crisp sauvignon blanc can be perfect, along with staple wines from the Liberty List such as their Gavi di Gavi. Liberty is renowned for its superb range of Italian wines but their expertise extends across the globe. The quality of The Hundred Grenache from South Australia is remarkable and given that it is made in such tiny amounts, it almost qualifies as a “Garage Wine”.

The weather may tempt us to spend more time outdoors, but there are plenty of stimulating options to drink once the sun has set and it’s time to retire inside.

2016 Gavi di Gavi `Montessora`, La Giustiniana, Piemonte, Italy - £23.99 £19.17This is one of the most renowned single vineyard wines from Gavi di Gavi, which has been going through a renaissance recently. Donato Lanati, one of the leading Italian wine academics and consultants, has been involved here for two decades, which is why it is the Gavi di Gavi of choice for many Michelin-starred restaurants. With its straw colour, floral nose and minerally backbone, it’s ready to drink now, but could easily age for a decade or more. Perfect with oysters. Click to buy.

2016 Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, Blank Canvas, Marlborough, New Zealand - £17 £15This is far more up front than the French equivalents from the Loire Valley. Winemaker Matt Thomson has worked with Liberty Wines for nearly a quarter of a century, first as a consultant and latterly as a producer. Blank Canvas comes from a single vineyard near the ocean at Dillons Point in Marlborough, home of the greatest New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs. It is intensely floral but beautifully balanced and shows saline hints within the minerally aftertaste, adding to its charm. Click to buy.

2017 `Cuvée Alexandre` Rosé Coteaux d'Aix-en-Provence, Château Beaulieu, Provence, France - £15.99 £12.99 Apparently, rosé has become the summer wine of choice for Millennials. Its refreshing taste and easy drinking characteristics make it very popular. Ch. Beaulieu certainly ticks those boxes, but beyond that has extraordinary depth and flavour. This is more in the style of the greatest rosé made by Domaine Ott or Chêne Bleu — wild strawberries mingled with peach. It was a small vintage, which has intensified its concentration — it is perfect either as an aperitif or with white meats or shellfish. Click to buy.

2015 'The Hundred Blewitt Springs' McLaren Vale Grenache , Willunga 100, Australia - £18.99 £16What a discovery — this Grenache wine is nothing like a Southern Rhone and shows superb harmony only three years into its life. Something of a rarity as only 600 cases are made from 85 year-old vines. The tannins are very fine and there is a delicate floral nose to this high altitude wine. I only wish more Australian reds could show this balance and elegance for such a reasonable price. Doubtless it will improve with bottle age, but there’s no need to wait given how much pleasure it imparts already. Click to buy.

2016 Syrah, Outer Limits by Montes, Aconcagua Costa, Chile - £21.99 £17.50From one coastal wine to another, several thousand miles away in Chile, only this time it is 100% Syrah, the wine of choice in the Northern Rhone. Somewhat dark and quite intense ripe black berry fruit with an overlay of smokiness. Aurelio Montes makes a point of planting wines at the edge of their comfort zone — hence the Outer Limits description — which is a sound practice as often the best wine comes from vines that have to struggle for sustenance. This wine is ideal with red meat or game. Click to buy.

2017 Nero d`Avola, Vigneti Zabù, Sicily, Italy - £11.99 £9.34A welcome reminder that Sicily doesn’t only produce great wines around Mount Etna. Valentino Sciotti is a young winemaker with properties in the south west of Sicily who specialises in Nero d’Avola, the most popular red grape varietal in the island. Located in the hills around Lake Arancio in Sambuca di Sicilia in southwestern Sicily, this proximity to water helps cool the vines during the hot summers. This is a full-bodied example but without excessive fruitiness and a pleasing after taste of herbs and wildflowers. Click to buy.